Flourishing destinations

In 2016, the most charming place for tourists was La Antigua Guatemala. More than 774 thousand persons, 41% of total visitors arrived in this colonial city, the former capital of the General Captainship of Central America and World Heritage Site of Humanity since 1979.

The second most visited place was Guatemala City (40%), Atitlan (23%), Quetzaltenango (11%), Coban and Tikal (9%), Esquipulas (7%), Izabal (6%) and Panajachel and Peten (5%).

As to the arrival of non-resident visitors to Guatemala, this same year, there was an increase of 3% with regards to 2015, since the number reached 1,906,195 foreign tourists. Mostvisitors came from El Salvador that represents 44% of the total. In second place is the United States and Canada (21%).

In terms of regions, Central America represents 55% and contributes the biggest number of non-residents in Guatemala, followed by North America (26%), Europe (7%) and South America (4%), which shows that tourism in Guatemala is made up of short, medium and long distance visitors. It is worth highlighting that most of the beaches in the country are considered paradise. For example, on the Pacific Ocean is Monterrico and Hawaii, in the department of Santa Rosa, as well as Sipacate, in Escuintla, where hundreds of people surf.

These destinations have excellent hotels and offer opportunities to see the release of sea turtles and whale-watching, in addition to beautiful trips among the mangroves that are of world importance. In the Caribbean Sea are Playa Blanca and Livingston, both in the Department of Izabal, known as the “Green Caribbean”, where the legacy of the Garifuna and Queqchí cultures are especially attractive.

According to the INGUAT, the country develops specialized tourist products that offer unique visitor experiences.

The nation is also recognized for fostering responsible tourism practices, where the visitor is involved with the environment and is able to size up the impact created through their arrival to host communities.

Inguat promotes projects oriented toward conservation, enhancement and renewal of the infrastructure for service rendering in the parks, archeological sites and protected areas, in order to improve the tourist infrastructure and signs to the destinations so the tourists can enjoy the wonders of Guatemala.

Guatemala’s position as a tourist destination from abroad is strong due to the launch of ad campaigns to the main markets, which promotes national tourism.

Another one of the important attractions that the country has is its specialized human capital, responsible for service rendering that satisfies the needs of the visitors in different regions in the world. At the same time, the strategic alliances have allowed improving the conditions for air connectivity and road infrastructure, to help the tourists reach the different regions.

Guatemala has first order services, where quality and customer care are the main attributes and supply of services in housing, gastronomy and entertainment are broad range.

It is the biggest economy of Central America, with macroeconomic stability, an enviable geographic location and outlets to both oceans, so the opportunities for investment, marketing and internationalization for the businesses that decide to stay in the country are broad.